Robin #180 - DC

I love this book, but . . to me . . this one really leaves me asking myself a lot of questions. But really, it's nothing bad about the book. I think Fabian Nicieza is doing a fantastic job with this story. If he wasn't, I wouldn't be doing all of this retrospect after reading it. I think he's doing a great job with all of these characters, especially Tim and Stephanie. Plus, I really think that Freddie Williams II is coming into his own on this series. He's always been a great talent, but, I think, on this series he's really giving his own feel to it. We find out this issue that Red Robins role was actually being played by the General, Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong. Somehow he's been matured, physically, but he wasn't trained any better, so . . that's his downfall. And this issue ends with Tim entering a warehouse filled with explosives. Inside, he comes to the realization that Anarchy has been behind all of this chaos in Gotham . . "Of course . . it's been so long . . so much going on . . no excuses . . I didn't even think about him . . with Batman gone, what better opportunity to drown Gotham City in a tidal wave of . . Anarchy." At the same time, he also realizes that the building is filled with C-4, and he triggered it when he entered. We have to wait until next issue to see if he survives this one. Anyways, the part that really has me thinking is this whole thing between Tim and Stephanie. I mean, yes she's doing what the Batman asked of her, before he left. But you just know that eventually the money trail behind Scarab and Jaeger is going to lead back to her, or maybe to some Wayne accounts that she had access to. With Anarchy being thrown into the mix, that might assuage Tim's suspicions about her, but . . even if the evidence does point to him, I can't see Tim giving up on a hunch that easily. And again, the part that really has me thinking is how Tim's going to react when he finds out what Stephanie's done. I know, she's done it for him. To " . . make him stronger." But, is he going to accept that as an excuse? Is he even going to listen to her? Or will he just see her as another person who's betrayed him? Personally, I think that Stephanie still has feelings for Tim. And that's part of the reason that she was so easily convinced to do this . . the logic fell within the parameters of her emotions. So when Tim comes down on her afterwards . . . she's going to be devastated. To me, all of those questions are a testament to Fabian's incredible story-telling skills. I thought this was a fantastic issue.